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Mourne

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Mourne

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#1  Edited By Mourne
@Fosssil said:

" @Mourne:  Total NBA attendance for 2010: 21,094,025. Total NHL attendance for 2010: 20,907,061. That's a difference of 186,964, which would have been even smaller had several NHL teams not played their first few regular season games over in Europe. Not exactly "distant fourth place," by my estimation. "

In the case of the NBA, I don't think the attendance is terribly important given how widespread the television contracts reach. As for America: The general population will be able to name twenty NBA players before they can come up with three active in the NHL. The NBA's staying power and market presence is far greater than that of the NHL, and that is why it is leaps and bounds ahead even outside of what I'm about to mention:  If you have all that data on hand, what is the total attendance when you take away the teams based in Canada? I suppose I should mention that the breadth of exposure for the NHL is focused very acutely, in the north, and is not--as I have pointed out with my previous posts--national whatsoever.
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Mourne

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#2  Edited By Mourne
@fwylo said:

@Mourne: Maybe I took your first post in too literal of a sense then.  You're saying now that it's the 4th most popular sport. Which I can agree with, but you're saying that only a small percentage would notice it was gone?  It's still a major league sport and has a high percentage of fans in the U.S. whether it's on the lower end of the popularity list or not.  If you're comparing it to the other Major Leagues then I can agree it would be a small percentage in comparison to those other ones. 
 
Also, I don't like hockey.

Indeed, and I guess I can kind of backtrack on that and say that... it wouldn't be noticed so much as baseball or basketball would be--especially after just one missed season, because after that, it'd really diminish in popularity. There is an NFL lockout looming, which could change the dynamic for a season or half-season, depending on how long it lasts.

@ProfessorEss said:

" @Mourne said:

Will hockey ever be a powerhouse as far as television revenue returns are concerned?
Oops, didn't realize we were all talking about television revenues here. I don't generally base my likes and dislikes on profit. "
We were talking about its impact in the grander scheme of things. Unfortunately, that does rely on profit. I genuinely do not like hockey, because it isn't as engaging or as exciting to me as football, basketball, or even have the accomplishments that come with a game of baseball. That said, I don't want to write off hockey itself--people like hockey as they will with other sports, and it will vary by region. I was merely noting that, by comparison, hockey isn't exactly a powerhouse.
 
Beyond that, one's appreciation for a sport (or anything, for that matter) does have a basis in cultural recognition. I'm from the eastern US, where hockey is definitely the 4th wheel in most areas, so I don't have a lot of exposure or appreciation for it compared to those up north and such.
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#3  Edited By Mourne
@fwylo said:
"This might be the most ridiculous thing I've ever read.  There are whole cities in the U.S. that absolutely love hockey.  The Minnesota Wild, since their start in 2000, have sold out every single game in their Xcel Energy Centre.  That's 10 years straight sir.  That is one city... put that in perspective with the rest of the U.S. and I think you will find a lot more hockey fans than you think.  "
But is it truly a national sport? Will hockey ever be a powerhouse as far as television revenue returns are concerned? I'll gladly put that into perspective and point out it was one city you mentioned, and I'm glad it's popular there. However, Minnesota is also near Canada, where hockey reigns supreme.
 
To put it into a bit of hypothetical perspective: Even if the five absolute best hockey players in the world joined the Blackhawks next season, it would not have the financial or social impact that would result from LeBron James joining the Bulls. In fact, it's said LeBron's presence in Chicago could bring 2 billion (yes, with a "B") dollars to the city if he were to join. You realize that LeBron's max contract could almost buy the Chicago Blackhawks, right? Factor in his Nike and other apparel endorsements, along with the tremendous amount of money he's already made, and he could literally own the Blackhawks in no time.

I'm glad that you like hockey, but let's note that another Minnesota sports team, the Vikings, play at the Metrodome--which has a capacity of over 60,000. The Xcel Energy Center? A little over 18,000. As far as going the distance, Daytona usually brings in well over 150,000+ every year. So while hockey may be comfortably in forth place in the team sports (football, baseball, basketball), it will never be any higher than that, and can only go down. Soccer is a bit of a joke amongst the general populace, but if the US were to advance well into the World Cup (highly unlikely; although I should note our success in hockey at the Winter Olympics did give hockey a temporary media boost), then it could be taken seriously here for once. If that were the case and young people started to care about soccer, we could actually win at the world level--as it is, our citizens with athletic talent gravitate toward profitable and popular games.

When you look at it that way, I don't think there's really much to discuss here.
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Mourne

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#4  Edited By Mourne
@Jazz said:
"Okay, fair enough as opinion. I asked to get a different opinion. I don't agree with any of that. Especially Sega producing rubbish..have you played Bayonetta, Valkyria Chronicles or Resonance of Fate? Again, it may be the first, but that does not make it the best representation of that type of game.  Diamond put it best as saying its closer to an adventure game than Yakuza which is closer to an RPG. Don't get me wrong, I'm not hating on Shenmue...though I personally didn't like it, I'm sure those who actually played it and loved it have good reason for doing so.This is coming from someone who has played both games and just doesn't understand beyond seriously tinted nostalgia glasses what Shenmue could bring to gamers now? edit: nice edit..have you even played Yakuza beyond the demo or seeing the Quick look? Also, not hellsing.      "
Resonance of Fate was developed by Tri-ace; it's not a Sega game outside of publishing (given Tri-ace's reputation, they could get anyone to publish it). Bayonetta was not strictly a Sega game, either; it was financed with some production overhead by Sega, but Platinum is independent. I have played all of these games, and Valkyria Chronicles is at least passable--it's a godsend for PS3 owners, but it didn't do much for me. It was a tad too monotous for its own good, and was actually better than the ever-disappointing FF13 in some respects, so at least it has that.

More on-point, however: Yakuza is developed and published by Sega. If you haven't noticed by now, they are really pumping out the same game over and over and over. I recently played Yakuza 3 and can't say I was disappointed because--after playing through the first entirely and skipping the second--I had little reason to expect a new experience. Yakuza 4 will be the same as 3, as this is how Sega is operating these days.
 
You may be too young to understand the initial impact of Shenmue and that's fine. It is still a genuinely engaging experience with much more on-offer than Yakuza and is point-by-point a better series. I recently introduced Shenmue to my younger brother, who is a gamer that's basically a product of the newest gaming generation. He enjoyed it tremendously and was surprised a game released so long ago on the Dreamcast could exhibit so much depth. My only real regret with Shenmue is that we never got a third title, and given what Sega is churning out of their home-developed titles these days, I don't want it until they get their act together.
 
If Sega is going to continue making in-house Sonic and Phantasy Star games that are this bad, then you can count me out. I'm not even saying Yakuza is that bad--it's not nearly as DOA as-is the latest Sonic output, but it isn't golden, either.
 
I would only ask you give Shenmue a better shot, without comparing it to any other series because, in all fairness, it really can't be. It is one of the few games that did so much it has yet to be emulated in full.
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#5  Edited By Mourne

I live in America and don't care about hockey.
 
I mean, honestly, folks--hockey fans can say what they will, but it's behind NASCAR and slightly ahead of soccer. It really is entirely neglible in the grand scheme of things (the lockout a few years ago that terminated many of their television contracts didn't help matters), and I can guarantee that if there were not a next season of hockey, of the 300 million people in the US, a very small percentage of people would even be aware it wasn't going on.

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#6  Edited By Mourne
@Jazz said:

"If people so desire to play Shenmue..why the hell don't they just buy Yakuza 3? Its better in every single way.

...Outside of the story, the gameplay, the production value, the attention to detail, and that Shenmue came from Sega's Quality Gaming era. Yakuza? None of that, and came out now... when Sega is producing rubbish. Absolute rubbish. Shenmue was one of the first great cinematic games that was far ahead of its time in many respects. The world it presented was immersive, and many of the gameplay elements it brought on, such as interactive QTEs integrated with cut-scenes, have become a staple in far more games than it ought to (it still has never been done better than it was in Shenmue).
 
(I originally only glanced at your avatar and instantly linked in my mind that it was from Hellsing, and criticized your choice in anime as being reflective of what you look for in games; but even worse, it's from G-Gundam, which is far, far worse)
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#7  Edited By Mourne
@Coombs said:
" KeyBoard < Keytar
                                                                               Groovy "
Just noting that the keyboard comes with a strap and can be played as a keytar, so it's technically both.
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#8  Edited By Mourne

This really is phenomenal. Congratulations to Harmonix on the accomplishment that is this video game.
 
I can't help but think of how embarrassing this is for Guitar Hero, though. It's honestly a little pathetic.

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#9  Edited By Mourne

Well, it depends on what you consider a prank call.
 
Back in the summer of 04, I was home alone one day and got a call from an "Unavailable" number. This was not and still is not an unusual practice, so I took the call. A man on the other line spoke in what I would describe as a blunt, husky tone. He spoke with deadly seriousness and spoke repeatedly of a demand of $500. When I quizzed him as to what I was apparently compensating him for, he said for the safe return of my dog. I had rationalized it as the guy being a little mental, because I did not own and never had owned a dog. We exchanged some words and I delivered my opinion of him in the course of the conversation. Ultimately, he wasted little time and said only, "If that's how it is--" followed by a dog welping in the background just as he cut the line.
 
It was a strange conversation, sure. What made it even more so was when I stepped outside and saw my neighbors frantically combing their property, calling out the name of their dog.
 
People often make up things in topics such as these, and I have just done the same. Animal lovers, fear not.

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#10  Edited By Mourne

Yeah, no. That actually looks like a Fischer Price guitar.